Originally Posted by
LT Profits
I am not crazy about the fact that this line opened at +6.5, but the line drop is more because Rutgers running back Paul James is now out than it is about being bet down. James was the third leading rusher in the country when he got hurt two weeks ago and this is RU's first game without him as they were on a bye last week. The Scarlett Knight have practically nothing behind him as the rest of the running back rushed for 21 yards on 10 carries after he went down and the teams second leading rusher right now and interim starter Savon Huggins is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry. Yes, SMU is 1-3, but the three losses were to Texas Tech, Texas A&M and TCU, so they are probably happy to begin AAC play here. Also the Rutgers pass defense is not as good as past years, in fact it is downright bad ranking 95th in the country, and SMU is averaging 330.5 passing yards per game with former Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert, whose completion percentage is up to 63% this year despite the tough non-conference schedule. Not to mention the Mustangs have the big coaching edge with June Jones.